Heart Seeker (The Fire Heart Chronicles Book 1)

by Juliana Haygert

  Phillip was hungry and it wasn’t for food. He wanted me. Really wanted me. He was also tired, seeing as he had had a long busy day, but that wouldn’t keep him away from me. And that made me happy.

  “Mirella, what are you doing?”

  I opened my eyes and smiled at him. “Enjoying the company.”

  He casted me a dubious look. “You still didn’t tell me where you want to eat. I’m driving in circles here.”

  “Do you like pizza?” I asked.

  “Very much.”

  “I know a place with the best pizza ever.”

  I gave him directions, and he drove us to the pizza place Ellie and Tonia had taken me to, The Pizza Tower. That memory saddened me a little. I had crossed paths with Ellie on campus earlier today, and when her eyes met mine, she hurried in the other direction.

  I pushed that thought away, and focused on the guy by my side.

  We took a booth in a corner. Perfect. I scooted over to him and leaned my back on his chest.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” he whispered, close to my ear, his breath sending tingles over my neck.

  “My day wasn’t very good,” I confessed. And it was only Monday. This week promised to be long. “I just want to stay with you, like this.” I pressed myself against him and he helped, tightening his arms around my waist.

  In a hurry, a waitress came and took our order.

  When she was gone, Phillip’s mouth slid down my neck, his warm breath making me shiver.

  Then, he stiffened. “What’s this?” He ran a finger over the thin red line on my shoulder.

  “It’s nothing.” I straightened, fixing my blouse so it would cover my shoulder.

  “Was it there last night? I don’t remember.”

  “It was,” I said, averting his eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

  A worried line formed over his brows. “The bruise on your cheek the other day, now a cut on your shoulder.”

  “It’s just a scratch. It’s nothing.” I smiled, hoping it was brave enough. “Just forget about it.”

  “If you want,” he mumbled.

  The rest of the night was awkward and almost silent. Phillip didn’t ask me about my wounds anymore, but he also didn’t ask about much of anything. I felt like I was losing here. This was supposed to be a romantic getaway, an adventure in the arms of a hot man that would help me get insane things out of my mind. But it was only making it worse.

  I asked him a few things to keep conversation flowing. With an uninterested tone, Phillip told me he was working on three big research projects and a few small ones. He was thinking about applying for another Ph.D. program, but he was weighing it because of his intense workload. I was also able to find out he was twenty-seven with a birthday in June, and that he was from West Virginia and had a big family and too many sisters who complained he didn’t visit enough. The last thing I got from him was about his last girlfriend. Their relationship lasted less than six months, about two years ago. Though I wasn’t brave enough to ask why it had ended.

  For now, I wouldn’t worry about our relationship because there was still none. For now, I was battling against the trust part of spending time with him. I was trying to figure out why this date suddenly felt wrong and how to fix it.

  Worse than the time at the pizza place was the drive home. He parked his car before my building, and after a quick peck, we muttered goodbyes.

  With my heart heavy and almost weeping, I opened the car door and was about to leave when Phillip grabbed my arm. “Wait.” He pulled me closer and I didn’t resist. “I don’t want you to go like that.” I stared up at him and let him continue. “I like you. I don’t know what’s happening to you, and why I get the feeling you’re hiding things from me—” So deja vu. “—but I want to get to know you. I wa—”

  I shut him up with my mouth over his.

  It was getting easier to feel his emotions. I didn’t need to concentrate so hard anymore or let my mind open. I just needed to concentrate on him.

  Right now, his will to make things work with me and his desire for me overwhelmed me. I gave in.

  Being lithe, I stretched over and sat bestriding him, careful not to honk the horn with my butt.

  What did I care about being in the middle of the street at 11 p.m.? About being in front of my building and knowing my mother could be spying? I didn’t care if I didn’t trust him completely. I didn’t need to trust him to sleep with him.

  I slipped my tongue inside his mouth and my hands slid under his shirt. He moaned and clutched my thighs, shifting his weight so he could brush the growing lump in his pants against me. I bit his lip and moved my hips, increasing the contact area between our legs and spreading heat down my body.

  “Don’t provoke me,” he whispered as his hands slid to my butt.

  “Or what?” I licked his lips. His arms pulled me closer, and I felt his heart beating as fast as mine. His mouth claimed mine with pure desire, and I responded by moving my hips again.

  “You’re killing me here.”

  “Good,” I whispered against his mouth. His hands slipped under my blouse and his fingertips grazed up and down my back, sending shivers up my spine.

  The sharp squeals of tires startled me. I jumped and ended up sitting on the wheel and honking the damn horn.

  “Shit,” I muttered and glanced to my building in the dark. If the breaking tires didn’t wake the entire building, the freaking horn did.

  Phillip stared past me, to the street. “Almost an accident.” He pointed behind me and I turned to see what he was talking about.

  In the street ahead, perpendicular to the one we were on, two cars were blocking traffic, the drivers out of their cars shouting at each other.

  What a nice bucket of cold water. What was I doing? What had I almost done? Slowly, I stretched over and sat on the passenger’s seat.

  “Where are you going?” Phillip asked. His hands reached out to me and tried to pull me back to him.

  I let him embrace and kiss me, but not more than that. Noticing my change, Phillip pulled back a little to stare at me.

  “I know you like me,” I began. The heat in my body moved up to my cheeks. “And I like you too. But we’re going too fast.” My words sounded like a teenager’s, and I almost regretted them. “Just because we aren’t kids anymore doesn’t mean I’m easy and go around sleeping with guys.”

  Besides, this was the first time I could feel what a guy was feeling, and the knowledge that he wanted to make our relationship work was overwhelming. It filled me with hope that I could learn how to trust someone. That I could trust Phillip.

  His lips curled up in a grin. Shit, I wanted to kiss him and forget my speech. “Thank God you don’t.” His hand cupped my face. “We can go a little slower,” he whispered, “though I can’t promise I’ll be able to resist you much longer. Being with you and not having you is killing me.” His lips closed on mine and I shivered, the thoughts in my mind swirling. Damn, why did I have to play the good girl now?

  Before I changed my mind, I disentangled myself from him and left his car. He promised to call me the next day so we could do something together. I liked that idea.

  I halted at the front steps and watched as he drove away.

  A smile spread over my lips.

  The tingling in my head started and I glanced up. Like before, the sensation that someone was watching me was back and strong. And I didn’t like it.

  I entered the building, raced up to my apartment, and locked the door, hoping whoever was outside would stay out.

  16

  I had been feeling off, like something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  As I was walking to campus for my two classes on Wednesday after lunch, I didn’t feel like sitting through boring lectures. So, I called Theron, and he promptly came to pick me up for a training session with his grandmother.

  “Take a deep breath,” Sheila instructed, “and send your senses out.”

  I complied. The fi
rst thing I felt was the warm grass under my crossed legs. Why did it have to be so hot this afternoon, and why did we have to practice outside? It was so cool inside the house and—

  “Focus,” she chided.

  If my eyes were open, I would have rolled them at her. But I focused and forgot about the feel of the grass on my legs. I focused on the feel of its life. The grass pulsed with life, and my senses felt it as far as the ranch went, spreading for miles and miles.

  “Further,” Sheila added.

  “I can’t go further. I don’t know how.”

  “Just let it happen. Feel each inch of the earth, of the air. Grab for it, pull it, reach for the rest.”

  I gritted my teeth and pushed my senses out. Slowly, they reached farther and farther, inch by inch. I pushed it out and felt the life within the ground past the ranch. Into the road, into the neighbors’ lands, into the far interstate.

  “Good. Now come back and focus on the feelings of the things or people you encounter.”

  Trees and little animals, like squirrels and birds, were the first I made contact with. Nothing much to report there, other than the life and energy running through them. Pulling my senses a little, I felt a couple parked beside a road. I couldn’t make out shapes, colors, or faces. I just sensed them there. I felt the anger coming from the energy of their bodies.

  “They seem to be arguing,” Sheila explained. Damn, how could the woman know that much? “Focus,” she chided, and I willed my mind to go back to the couple.

  Anger was the only thing I sensed around them. Nothing more. I couldn’t know what they were saying, if they were saying anything, let alone know if they were arguing.

  Irritated, I moved on and found a deer and a few rabbits. I didn’t bother reading their feelings. I didn’t think there was anything they could think that would interest me.

  Sheila’s exasperated sigh reached my ears, and I continued.

  Next, I sensed another car and its occupants moving up the road, away from the ranch. My mind was failing or I was too tired, because I tried reading their feelings, getting hold of their life energy, but I couldn’t.

  “Tziganes are trained to protect their mind and body,” Sheila explained. “Cora, Rye, and Bryna are taking the kids out.”

  My eyes shot open. “Isn’t that dangerous? To take the kids out? What if alchemists find them?”

  A warm but faint smile appeared on Sheila’s strong features. “We can’t live in hiding, not all the time. We go out and take the kids out sometimes. We can’t let the alchemists win. If we hide, it’ll be like letting the bad guys out and we move into prisons.”

  “But what if they are attacked?”

  She knelt before me. “Cora, Rye, and Bryna have acute powers, and they can sense if danger is upon them. Moreover, the kids know what they have to do in case of an attack. We’ve trained them.”

  “That’s ...”

  “Normal for us. If we don’t teach them how to defend themselves, who will? Yes, they are young, but it’s necessary.”

  No argument there. I understood where she was coming from, but imagining little kids fighting or running from alchemists sent a chill up my spine. I really hoped they didn’t encounter any problems during their outing.

  “What now, Mirella?” Sheila’s smile widened. “Are you worried about the tziganes? I thought you didn’t care much for our kind.”

  A sudden warmth took over my cheeks. “That’s not it.” What could I say to her? Perhaps I shouldn’t say anything.

  “Don’t worry.” She patted my hand. “I thought a lot about you after your first visit. I understand.” She gestured around us, to the house and stables and the lush lawn. But she didn’t mean the land. She meant the way of living, the tradition. “It is a little overwhelming since you only found out about your heritage a few weeks ago. And that’s the most valid reason for why you need to practice and learn to protect yourself. You’re out there, unprotected. An easy target and our enemies do seem to like you.”

  “Yes, they do,” I agreed in a low, sad tone.

  “Now, back to practicing.”

  “Right.” I closed my eyes and focused on where I had left off. The car with Cora, Shay, Bryna, and the kids was already out of my reach. Since I was supposed to come all the way back, I pulled my senses closer.

  Nothing interesting came out of the ranch’s limits. I wasn’t going to sweep around the ranch, since I would only find tziganes who wouldn’t let me spy on their feelings, but something nagged inside of me, telling me that Sheila would tap dance over my head if I didn’t, so I sent my senses around the property.

  And my heart stopped when I sensed something ... impossible.

  I shot up, startling Sheila. “What? Did you sense something?” she asked.

  “Didn’t you?” I asked. She had been with me all this time. How could she have missed it?

  Fueled by my newfound curiosity and the immense power, I ran to it, past the barn building on the right side of the house.

  I halted for a moment on the top of a small hill.

  Stone stairs led down, like an ancient Greek theater, and in the middle, instead of an orchestra, there was a huge fenced garden with many twisted tree trunks, rocks, creepers, and a few flowers, almost as dense as the Amazon Rainforest. Why was such a beautiful garden behind thick iron bars?

  I approached the cage and reached up to shake the bars, to check if they were real or if I was dreaming.

  That was when a huge cat jumped down from among the leaves and sprawled beside the bars, causing me to yelp and retreat a few steps with my thrumming heart in my hands.

  My mouth hung open.

  A white lion. A huge white lion, with skin that shimmered every time he moved, and bright blue eyes that stared straight at me. I had never seen or heard of a white lion.

  Frozen in place, I swallowed my fear, afraid he could smell it.

  A deep snarl rumbled in the lion’s throat, and he closed his eyes. He seemed so ... intelligent. Then it brushed against my skin and I gasped. His senses, his power. Overwhelmed by the intensity of his magical touch, I closed my eyes and let him in.

  A jumble of lights exploded in my mind, swirling around my senses, making me dizzy. It slowed down and revolved together, forming an image. The cat and I, exactly where we were, but without the bars.

  I opened my eyes when I withdrew my sense, feeling suddenly so small and weak. But he had left his mark, and told me his name.

  Felix.

  I bit my lip and tried to turn the table around. I let my senses loose and pressed them against him. I found his mind open to mine.

  Felix. He dipped his big head down once, as if nodding, and my heart raced. He had understood me! If I come closer, will you behave?

  Again, the lion nodded, and then lay his head over his paws close to the bars as if waiting to be petted. I couldn’t help but smile.

  Unafraid, I leaned against the bars and extended my hand to pet him. Oh shit, his mane was softer than silk. Like a dog, Felix tilted his head up and I understood. I scratched behind his ears. Felix purred and I giggled, not believing what was happening here.

  You’re a beauty. The lion tilted his head and licked my hand, his tongue searing hot and downy like velvet.

  His mind merged with mine once more, and he showed me how he ended up in that cage.

  After days of running from men in black masks, Felix and his partner found other animals trying to hide. They all found a small valley deep in the forest and lay down to rest for a few hours. A couple of hours later, they were awoken by banging and shouting. A fight ensued around them. Alchemists against tziganes. Felix and the other animals joined in the fight, but the hunters were too fast, too strong, and they cheated. They used magic that wasn’t theirs. They killed his mate and were about to kill him. Then Cora was right there, helping him. The animals, the tziganes, and the alchemists fought some more. In the end, the alchemists fell and only half of the animals had survived. The tziganes started rounding up the a
nimals, taking them into the back of a big truck, where they were placed into cages.

  Felix closed his eyes and I saw something in his mind.

  Me.

  Simple. My smiling face in his mind.

  Because of that, he surprised the tziganes by not needing to be escorted inside the truck. Even though he didn’t fully trust people, he entered the truck of his own free will.

  Because he knew they would eventually lead him to me.

  The images shifted. Then Felix was on the back of the same truck, and besides Cora and Rye standing just outside the open doors, Theron was there. They were arguing. Not long after, Theron approached him, promising Felix everything would be all right, that they would protect him. He was there, wasn’t he? Felix wasn’t going anywhere. Even so, Theron injected a sedative into his bloodstream. A few seconds later, Felix blacked out. When he woke up, he was in this cage.

  I stared at him. You don’t trust them. He growled in response. I know how you feel. I don’t fully trust them either. His blue eyes pierced mine and a shiver of power filled my chest. He trusted me. He had seen me. Why?

  Before I could reach into Felix’s mind and find the answer, I heard a gasp.

  “Saint Sara-la-Kali,” Sheila whispered as a prayer. Her eyes were gaped at my hand over Felix’s fur. “You sensed him?”

  “Yes. Wasn’t I supposed to?”

  “No, you weren’t. He keeps himself shielded from everything. From anyone.”

  Theron came running down the stairs. “What happened? I saw you two running and ...” His eyes found Felix and me. “By Saint Sara-la-Kali. How are you doing that?”

  “What?”

  “Touching him,” Theron answered. “He doesn’t let anyone get close. Trying to feed him is hell on Earth.”

  “She said she felt him,” Sheila told him.

  “What? Impossible.” Theron snickered. “The cat doesn’t open up to anyone.”

  “Felix,” I said.

  “What?” Theron asked, a knot over his eyes.

  “That’s his name. Felix.”

  “How do you know?” Sheila asked, coming closer.

  Felix growled and I patted him, urging him to calm down. “He told me.” Their eyes widened, and I thought Sheila would faint. While I had the advantage of their stunned silence, I decided to continue, “He showed me how Cora got him, and how you helped her and Rye bring him here. He came here by choice, but you sedated him. He didn’t like that.”